Former Pine Bluff Alderman Jack Foster has only one thing on his mind as he prepares to run for United States Senate: Helping the people of Arkansas.
Foster, of Pine Bluff, plans to run as a Democrat.
“Arkansas is a state that has pockets of poverty all over it,” Foster said. “Currently, whatever resources we are getting from the federal government are not going to all Arkansans equally.”
Born in Eudora and raised in Lake Village, Foster said he knows what poverty means and how desperate many people across the poorest parts of the state are for economic help.
“You have people barely making it,” Foster said. “If elected, I want to get everything I can for the people of Arkansas. That’s just not happening now with our current elected officials.”
On trade issues, Foster said he would like to see more state trading with Cuba. He said millions of dollars each year could benefit Arkansas farmers if more trade happened with the island nation, which sits just south of Florida.
Foster also plans to make infrastructure improvement a top priority, if elected. He said he supports President Joe Biden’s multi-billion-dollar plan to improve roads, bridges and home water pipes, among other projects.
“Our infrastructure is in bad shape,” Foster said. “It’s past time that we do something to fix it.”
Foster also chastised Arkansas’s current Washington delegation for not being better in touch with their constituents. He said they showed that they don’t care about people here by refusing to vote for the most recent stimulus bill.
“What does that say?” Foster said. “Our people in Washington don’t care about Arkansans struggling and suffering. They want you to continue to struggle and suffer.”
If elected, Foster said he would create a liaison position in his office to address the needs of communities across the state.
“If you call my office, someone will call you back and get you an answer,” Foster said. “Citizens should expect their elected officials to respond to their needs.”
As for his past political career, Foster said he wants to be up front about a 2005 federal conviction of aiding and abetting an attempted extortion while he was serving on the Pine Bluff City Council.
The conviction, he said, was “wrongful.” Foster served on the council from 2001-05.
He touted that political experience as one of his strong points.
“I know how to get things done,” Foster said. “I know politics and what it takes to help people. And that’s what it’s all about. We need people in Washington who want to help Arkansans.”
Foster, 75, is a proud Vietnam veteran and attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He has been married to his wife, Johnnie, for 36 years. Foster has 11 children.
U.S. Senator John Boozman, a Republican, has also announced his run for re-election to the Senate.